Horror in Charlotte, and in Utah

Debra Saunders on Sep 11, 2025

WASHINGTON -- The Sept. 8 headline in The New York Times said it all: "A Gruesome Murder in North Carolina Ignites a Firestorm on the Right."

The Gray Lady leaped over the warm body of victim Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old immigrant from Ukraine, and led with its usual blame-the-right politics.

The story's subhead: "Security footage capturing the unprovoked stabbing in Charlotte became an accelerant for conservative arguments about the perceived failings of Democratic policies."

The Wall Street Journal was like-minded: "Woman's Stabbing Death Becomes MAGA Talking Point."

Sadly, the headline writers missed the story: Zarutska was riding Charlotte's light rail system after her shift at a pizzeria on Aug. 22, shortly before 10 p.m., when an apparent stranger stabbed her in the neck and killed her.

Authorities later arrested and charged Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr., 34, a serial offender with 14 prior convictions.

Brown is a Black homeless man with a history of mental illness, according to his lawyer. Zarutska was a white woman who was holding down a job. Hence big media outlets' decision to frame the young woman's death as a chew toy for the right, instead of a crime that never should have happened.

And they can't even demand gun control as a remedy.

In the course of my career, I've dealt with thought leaders in the criminal justice system who, deep down, believe that government has no right to incarcerate a man who is a danger to himself and society. When a senseless act of violence took a young life, they would shrug as if they lacked the power to prevent such crimes. All they could do, really, was mitigate risk along the margins.

After the attack, for example, Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles released a statement in which she offered, "We will never arrest our way out of issues such as homelessness and mental health."

And: "I want to be clear that I am not villainizing those who struggle with their mental health or those who are unhoused."

I, too, have wondered about Brown's mental health. He killed a total stranger. But Brown also had the presence of mind to remove bloodied clothing and try to leave the scene without being arrested. That tells me he wanted to get away with it.

I suppose that is a right-wing argument.

As I was writing this, conservative activist Charlie Kirk, 31, was shot and killed at an event at Utah Valley University. Kirk was a committed conservative, but also an open man ever happy to debate. And we know why he was assassinated.

Contact Review-Journal Washington columnist Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com. Follow @debrajsaunders on X.

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